Machine for cutting wood fiber.



' No. 747,337. PATENTED DEG.15,1903.

' F. 1). SWEET.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING WOOD FIBER. APPLIOATIO'N FILED 1m. 2, 1903.

no menu. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ATTET- I Ins/ENTE E17 1 6 60/2 Am Tn: MORRIS Pzrzns co, PHOTQLITNOJ WASHINGTON. D c

UNITED STATES Patented December 15, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK D. SWEET, OF ELYRIA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE OHIO FIBER MACHINERY 00., OF ELYRIA, OHIO, A

CORPORATION.

MACHINE FOFl CUTTING WOOD FIBERL SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 747,337, dated December 9 Application filed March 2,1903.

Ohio, have invented certain. new and useful Improvements in Machines for Cutting Wood Fiber; and I do declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for cutting wood fiber; and the invention consists in a machine constructed and operating substantially as shown and described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine with a log in position to be cut, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine and leg as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the machine, looking from the left, substantially on line a: 00, Fig. 2. Fig. at is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the machine seen at the top of Fig. 1 and comprising a clutch mechanism and as hereinafter more fully described. Fig. 5 is an enlarged elevation of a portion of the speed-regulating mechanism, taken on line 2 2, Fig. 1.

The machine thus shown is designed to cut or produce what has become known as wood fiber, which is now largely used in the manufacture of a prepared plaster; and to this end the machine is provided with a series of saws now common in this class of machines and with means for controlling the feed of the log to the saws and for rotating the log in respect thereto, so as to maintain a uniform and regulated speed of rotation.

To these ends the machine comprises a suitable main frame A, a series of saws B, supported on ashaft 12, carrying a pulley or bandwheel I), to which power is applied from any Serial No. 145,632. (No model.)

or support 2 at one end and a center-point spindle 3 at the othercnd, and the log is suspended upon and between these two spindles and held thereby in such way as to give it the requisite support and driving power. The said spindles are carried in bearings 6, which' are adapted to be moved up and down on posts or uprights 4, on which they are sleeved and free to slide. Adjustment of these bearings is effected by means of screws 5 at each side parallel to posts or rods 4 and threaded in or through the heads 6 of the log-supports, so that as the screws are turned they will carry the said heads up or down, according to the direction of their rotation. Both said screws 5 are provided with means to rotate them at the same time and at the same rate of-speed, so that theywill both work together and provide uniform and even feed downward for the log as it is gradually cut away by the saws. This feed proceeds from a transverse shaft D, carrying at each end miter-gear d, engaging another miter-gear d on screw 5.

Power is transmitted to shaft D through sprocket-wheel 7 on shaft, and a sprocketchain 8 connects said wheel-with a smaller sprocket-wheel 9 on a parallel shaft E. This latter. shaft is a drive-shaft for shaft D and is itself driven from power-shaft F, which is provided with pulleys 10 or the like and adapted to be connected up with any suitable source of power. Afgear-wheel 11 is splined upon shaft F, so as to slide freely back and forth thereon, and an intermediate pinion 12, mounted upon and controlled by lever G, serves to make power connection between gear 11 and the series of differential gears H on shaft E. These latter gears run from small,

to large step by step, and lever G is pivoted between its ends on shaft E and arranged in such manner that pinion 12 can be thrown down out of mesh with gear H and brought into engagement with any one of the said series of gears, according as greater or less speed of rotation in shaft E is desired. The said lever G is therefore arranged to also control the position of the gear 11 on its shaft,

make power connection with any one of the several gears H, and all this is under the convenient control of the operator of the machine.

The speed of rotation of log 0 is controlled through the shaft E, from whence power is derived to turn or drive the log. To this end a sprocket-chain 14 runs from pinion 15 on shaft E to sprocket-wheel 16 on drive-spindle 2 for the log, which has spurs engaging the end of the log, as hereinbefore described.

Lever G is provided with means to fix its positions after adjustment, consisting in a short rod or bar L, supported in main frame A, and alink 20, slidable thereon and engaged with the lever by a screw and thumb-nut 21 through slot 22 in said lever. When adjusted and secured by these or equivalent means, the lever G holds pinion 12 in its place of work till changed again.

It is desirable to have an automatic throwout for the log-feed mechanism when the log gets out down to its last proportions, and to this end I provide shaft D with a fixed clutch 23, while wheel 7 is free thereon. Lug 24 on the clutch engages lug 25 on the said wheel, and a collar 26 on shaft D on the opposite side of wheel 7 has an arm 27, on which is a rod 28, having a stop 29 in its lower end. The bearing 6 of the log-carrying spindle 3 has an car 30 engaged freely on said rod 28, and so it occurs when the log has been fed down till this car engages stop 29 it pulls arm 27 downward and throws lug 32into cavity 33, Fig. 4, and thus disengages wheel 7 from clutch 23, spring 34 throwing wheel 7 away from the clutch; but when the machine is at work collar 26 is rotated to bringlug 32 out of cavity33 onto the plain bearing-surface 35 about said cavity next said collar.

What I claim is-- l. The machine having a series of saws and vertically-adjustable log-supports above the saws, screws to raise and lower said supports, a shaft and gears to rotate said screws, a

clutch and a power-drivenwheel on said shaft, and means to throw said wheel into and out of working relation with said clutch, substantially as setforth.

2. In a wood-fiber machine, a series of saws and means to feed a log thereto comprisinga speed-varying mechanism consisting of a series of differential gears, and a power-driven hand-controlled pinion adapted to make engagement with any one of said series of gears, substantially as set forth.

3. The machine having a series of saws and means to feed a log thereto comprising a set of feed-screws and supports on said screws to carry the log, a rotatable shaft to drive said screws, a collar on said shaft, and a rod thereon provided with a stop and a projection on one of said log-supports adapted to engage said stop, whereby the feed of the logis thrown out, substantially as set forth.

4. In a wood-fiber-cutting machine, a series of rotatable cutting-saws, log-supports above the saws, and mechanism to move said supports up and down,in combination with means to automatically throw said mechanism out of operative connection as said supports approach the saws, whereby the supports are stopped when the log has been reduced to its last proportions, substantially as described.

5. In a wood'fiber-cutting machine, aseries of saws and vertically-movable log-supports above the same, in combination with mechanism to raise and lower said supports, a power-driven wheel engaged with said mechanism, and means to throw said wheel into and out of power connection comprising a clutch and automatically-operated devices to move said clutch, substantially as described.

Witness my hand to the foregoing specification this 15th day of December, 1902.

FREDERICK D. SWEET. 

